Monday's Pizza

So, it was off to work on Monday morning. There's only one word to describe how much I missed being at work: NOT! But, there I was...

I had a lot of trouble in the late afternoon staying awake. Everyone else seemed to be gone to meetings or somewhere. So, I was all alone in an overly warm office, trying to type dull words into an even duller manuscript. Needless to say, I kept nodding off. It was embarrassing!

But, I headed home at 5:00 PM, full of hope. After consulting with Jake (who is a baker - I am not), I now understood that the "bread flour" called for in my original recipe contains more gluten than the "all-purpose" flour I was using (and, as an aside, "cake" flour has even less). So, I found a recipe on the Internet for pizza dough that used "all-purpose" flour and I am ready to try again.

I got home and changed clothes. I mixed up a packet of yeast, 1 1/2 cups of warm (110 degrees F) water and 1/2 teaspoon of brown sugar and let it get happy for 10 minutes. Then I added two tablespoons of olive oil, one teaspoon salt and 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour and turned the (much more familiar-textured) dough onto my big, floured wood cutting board. I added more flour (probably another cup) as needed until the dough ball I was kneading seemed right. I put that in an oiled bowl, covered it with a towel and set the timer for one hour.

I went outside and gave the old storm door and frame another coat of the almond spray paint. I left that to dry and came back inside, taking three trips to the garage to put some tools back. There's still more left, but I did make a good dent in the pile, lol!

I needed to grille some vegetables for the pizza (in fact, this pizza is supposed to be made entirely on the grill, but I was not that brave). The tricky thing about grilling vegetables on a charcoal grille is to get the temperature right. A bed of nice coals that would cook a steak to perfection is too hot and leaves your veggie charred on the outside and raw on the inside. But, since God is merciful, usually when you are done cooking your protein, the coals have died down to the right temp for veggies!

So, I got the charcoal lit and turned two pounds of ground chuck into eight patties. I hit them with the house seasoning and, when the coals were ready, onto the grille they went. I pulled them off and put on a package of hot dogs. When those were done, I let everything cool and then bagged them up. Into the fridge they went for dinners this week.

Then, I prepped the veggies. I took half of a red onion and cut it into wedges. I trimmed the ends off four zucchini and, using the mandoline, cut them lengthwise into 1/8 thick strips. I tossed them with salt and olive oil and put them on the grille.

The zucchini strips were easy, but the onion kept separating and falling though the grate. After about 8-10 minutes, I decided they were perfect, so they came off as well. I left the grille to cool down overnight outside.

I used half the dough to make a square pizza. I topped that with one cup of tomato sauce, a little of the grated provolone cheese (I grated about two cups), the grilled zucchini and onions, about a cup of grape tomatoes, cut in half, and then the rest of the cheese. I slid the pizza from the cutting board to the pizza stone in the oven (preheated to 450 degrees F.) I baked it until the crust was browned (about 15-20 minutes). I got it out with some difficulty (I really need one of those pizza peels!) and let it cool five minutes. I sprinkled it with about 2 tablespoons of thinly sliced fresh basil, drizzled it with olive oil and dusted it with Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Then, I ate it!!! Well, not all of it, about three big slices. It tasted good, probably good enough to make up for the floury mess I made of my kitchen, lol! But, next time (and there will be a next time) I'm gonna make the whole thing on the grille!

I did take a picture and will post it, although I wish now I'd taken it before I chowed down on it. It probably would have looked nicer.

I watched some TV, but was fast asleep by 10:00 PM.